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Study Technology (also "Study Tech")

The Californian controversy centered around the key issues of what Study
Technology is and what it does. It is based on the teachings of the late L. Ron
Hubbard, sometime science fiction writer and founder of the Church of
Scientology, a reincarnation/psychotherapy group that many see as a cult. Its
curious name reflects one of Hubbard's most frequent quirks or marketing
gimmicks: he would customarily label his religious doctrines as "technologies".
Study Technology, often abbreviated as "Study Tech", forms part of a much larger
body of Scientology scripture that members simply call "the tech".

The contents of the Study Tech books are taken directly from Scientology
scriptures published over a period of about twenty years between approximately
1960 and 1980. Not all of the material is reproduced in exactly the same form in
the Scientology and Applied Scholastics versions. A number of significant
changes have been made. Hubbard's rambling lectures have virtually been
rewritten, although their underlying message remains the same.

District officials killed the program,
believing that Applied Scholastics was seeking to expand too
quickly. Officials were also displeased that the group, without
district approval, was using its involvement with Centennial to
market the program elsewhere, according to Acting Supt. Elisa
Sanchez.

In promotional literature, Applied Scholastics made claims
of remarkable success at Centennial High. While some parents said the program
helped their children, Sanchez said the claims made by Applied Scholastics were
unsubstantiated.

Critics of Scientology say the real motive of Delphi is
to increase church membership, and make money by selling high-priced
Scientology courses to parents, according to Priscilla Coates, an
anti-cult activist in Los Angeles.

One parent, Harvard Dental School instructor Dr. E. Leo
Whitworth, had just such an experience with Delphi Academy.

Whitworth said his son, L.V., was taught basic Church of
Scientology methods like Study Technology during the four years he was
enrolled at Delphi Academy.

The dentist said he did not learn that Delphi was linked
to Scientology until after his son was enrolled, and then they recruited
him for a variety of programs at the Church of Scientology on Beacon
Street in Boston.

My experience with the 'study tech' was that,
when reading something Hubbard wrote, absolutely no explanation
of the text was allowed. Hubbard -- in spite of the much vaunted
'communications tech' -- was NOT the easiest person to
understand. I can recall asking for a restatement of some- thing
I was studying, only to be told -- rather firmly -- that my 'not
getting it' was (obviously) caused by my going past a
misunderstood word; that this was MY fault in not immediately
comprehending the <cough> genius, of Hubbard and not due to the
..ah, opacity, of what he wrote.

This whole m/u word thing, like so much of $cn, has a smidgen of truth to it,
but has been intentionally blown WAY out of proportion, to the point that a
student who is questioning something (because that is what a student DOES) is
told that any concept he fails to grasp is HIS fault and not that of the manner
in which the concept is presented.

62. Should a Scientology student question any
of the tenets of Scientology, he is required to look up
definitions of words in the text: "The student says he does not
understand something. The Supervisor has him look earlier in the
text for a misunderstood word."
[JCA-132]; "Whenever a person has a confused idea of
something or believes there is some conflict of ideas IT IS
ALWAYS TRUE THAT A MISUNDERSTOOD WORD EXISTS AT THE BOTTOM OF
THAT CONFUSION." (Emphasis in original,
[JCA-133]). No-one who disagrees with Hubbard can continue in Scientology. All practices
have to be adhered to absolutely. To do otherwise is regarded as a
violation of "standard technology". In this way, even factual
errors in Hubbard's work remain unchanged. For example, the
phrase "The 14th century psychiatrist" used in the "Policy
Letter" "Sanity"
[JCA-134].
A "course supervisor" at the Birmingham Scientology organization spent almost 30
minutes trying to persuade me that this was not a typographical error for
"19th".